Maneuvering or handling a bulky, possibly heavy, object is difficult. To develop an easily operable device to assist with those functions can provide great advantages to a person, who routinely must deal with that bulky object. Yet, the combination of bulk and weight mitigates against a simple solution to the problem.
This will especially be true with regard to water craft. Many people enjoy owning a boat and using the same. Transporting the boat from point to point, for either use or storage is greatly complicated by the size and weight of the boat. In an attempt to solve this problem, a boat owner is known to use of a procedure known as power loading. This procedure involves aligning a boat up with the trailer and using the motor of the boat to load or put the boat on the trailer.
There are problems with a water craft user who is power loading a boat onto a trailer at the boat launch. Power loading is loading the water craft onto the trailer by using the motor of the water craft. Using this type of propeller action will ruin the dredging work that is usually done at a boat launch. Some boats are designed to drive off the water and onto the trailer.
An alternative for the power loading boat process is to use a winch for loading. The line required for a winch can create problems. The durability of the winch creates other problems.
With power loading, the resulting propeller wash can erode the sediment just beyond the ramp surface, creating a large hole. The eroded sediment is deposited behind the propeller, creating a mound. Trailer tires can get stuck in these holes, and boats can run aground on the mound. Instead of power loading, other devices are better for loading the trailer with the boat.
Use of rollers to overcome these problems create more difficulties. If the rollers are high enough to be effective, damaged the boat, usually below the waterline, can occur. If the rollers are low in an attempt to minimize such damage, ease of loading and unloading, especially of a boat, is compromised. Furthermore, the roller system has to easily allow loading of the boat, while at the same time, provide stability and security while the boat is loaded on the trailer. To provide one of these requirements, usually weakens the ability for the roller system to provide the other.
Clearly, it is very desirable to develop a system to overcome these problems with a boat or other heavy, bulky items. If this system is durable and reliable, problems with those items can be greatly reduced.